No one else but you, partner
by Lulu-Prints
Summary: It happened again last night, but he could remember nothing; this time, an accident happened due to his obsession, and he watched his partner run away in pain. Slash! Philip and Shoutarou.


**Disclaimer : **I don't own the series; if I did, this wouldn't just be a fanfiction.

**A/N : **They say, if a muse bugs you, write it off and you'll be fine. This one's been bugging me and I haven't been able to make any solid progress on any of my other fanfictions. So, I wrote this and uh.. realised that it didn't quite made any sense - but whatever, W didn't really make sense in the first place. If you want to blame someone (something) for this, blame Suda Masaki's first photobook. It's a crime for anybody to look so cute, so Philip is literally the crime-in-the-city. Okay, not making anymore sense now. So, uh.. Hope you'll enjoy!

Warning : Hints of Mature topics in the story. I totally should've wrote this in the summary, right?

**kimishika inain da, aibou -**『きみしかいないんだ、相棒』**- It has to be (no one else but) you, partner.**

* * *

Contrary to the way he normally held himself, Philip was not a morning person.

It was a fact that he required a good, long period of time each day to compose himself in the morning before he was ready to face the world.. Or the other members of the Narumi Detective Agency, at the least. The main reason why he could not wake up early each morning was because he liked to stay up late into the night, although mostly, it was because he could not stop researching until he was sure he had read up everything about that certain topic he was absorbed in.

Quite a big problem this was, Philip realised - but well, there were no present threats against his behaviour, so there were no immediate or urgent reasons for him to change out of this habit.

The sun overlooking Fuuto City raised itself patiently among its accompanying clouds, quietly waking up the last of Fuuto's citizens still asleep. However, in the secret hangar of Narumi Detective Agency where sunlight could not reach, every single light present in the basement had been switched on, a usual indication of how it was time for Philip to wake up soon. Stirring unwillingly from beneath the sheets of his make-shift bed - which was the couch, Philip rolled over to rest on his back, and was surprised to feel the gentle caress of soft cotton on his skin as his sheets slipped off his bare frame with his movement.

_Bare skin..? I'm not wearing anything right now..?_

That was weird, because that has never happened before. To Philip, it was common sense for him to be prepared even when he was going to sleep - to keep himself clothed and protected and most importantly - to be ready to move out of the detective agency should something sudden happened; and sleeping naked was definitely, in every sense, not being careful and protected and ready at any time.

_Where are my clothes.._

Cracking his eyes open just a little to get used to the bright lights in the secret hangar, Philip raised his head slightly to bring the entire upper level of the room into view. Immediately within sight was Shoutarou, his back towards Philip, busy scrubbing off the many writings and drawings on the white boards he had filled up just a night ago. From his angle, Philip could see little of the writings he was certain was left there by him just last night - and he had little memories of what exactly he had been researching about the whole time until he fell asleep..

_But that's not a big concern.. Is it?_

It was a little strange to have his partner hanging around in the secret hangar early in the morning, helping him clean his white boards (Shoutarou had always insisted on Philip having to clean up after his own mess.). It was even stranger for Shoutarou to not be trying desperately to wake Philip up from his slumber.

_And why is Shoutarou's shirt so crumpled..?_

Pushing himself off the couch, Philip shifted to support his weight on his arms. Then, to his surprise, a sharp ache shot right through his arms down his entire frame, and he fell back onto the couch in shock from being unable to raise himself up entirely. His short, muted cry must have started Shoutarou; Philip looked up just in time to see his partner dropping the white board duster noisily onto the floor.

_What's with this pain.._

"Shoutarou, what's wrong?" he asked casually, not bothering to try to raise himself up again. Philip was sure he needed Shoutarou's help for that, and Philip had meant to ask about his own condition first; but in all honesty, he was more concerned about his partner right now.

_Why isn't Shoutarou answering me?_

As he watched Shoutarou fumbling with the white board duster on the floor until he finally picked it up, Philip adjusted himself minutely on the couch, and caught sight of a certain sketch on the nearest white board - yet to be erased. It was certainly sketched by him, Philip considered, since the subjects of the sketch were Shoutarou and himself - but what had he been researching, that led to a sketch like that?

Shoutarou noticed his line of sight, and hastily swiped at the sketch with the duster, a second after Philip sank into deep thoughts.

_Could it be.._

"No, it's nothing- you should go back to sleep, it's-"

"Huh?"

"-still early in the morning, and I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Shoutarou.."

Halting his runaway train-of-thoughts, Philip glanced up quickly at his partner, and found the other male staring pointedly at the ground as he cleared up most of what were on the white boards. Shoutarou, telling him to go back and rest early in the morning? Shoutarou, telling Philip that he'd woken the latter by accident? Shoutarou, not looking at him as he spoke? This isn't happening.

_This isn't Shoutarou at all._

"What did you do to my partner?" Philip questioned in amused horror, studying the figure before his eyes - but no matter how he looked, he could only see Shoutarou and no one else in those tensed lines..

"Stop sleep talking and go back to sleep, Philip," Shoutarou deadpanned and swept out of the room, grabbing his vest and his hat from the floor as he went, his footsteps echoing unnecessarily loudly in the otherwise-quiet secret hangar.

_Wait, Shoutarou hadn't been fully dressed? His clothes were on the floor? What's going on?_

As his gaze followed Shoutarou's figure out of the room until the door swung shut firmly on the other male's back, Philip was momentarily distracted by the writings and drawings on the white boards decorating the walls on the other side of the room.

_.. Ah.._

Shoutarou hadn't remembered to clean those before he left.

* * *

Hidari Shoutarou was a strange person, Terui Ryuu had always concluded. He was like a half-boiled egg aiming to be a hard-boiled one, but he bounced away from the hard-boiled way of life at every single chance he had; then he would regret and complain about being laughed at for being half-boiled, but he never actually tried to take a step towards being hard-boiled - he would always ended up solving his issues the half-boiled way.

Hidari Shoutarou was strange, but he was a person Ryuu had easily understood.

Yet the Hidari Shoutarou seated in front of them right now.. That's right, he was beyond Ryuu's understanding at the moment.

"You're going to spill that cup of coffee soon, Hidari," Ryuu commented as off-handedly as he could manage, studying the other Rider over his stack of paperwork and reports. It had proved to be a slow day at the office - Fuuto Police Extraordinary Crimes Investigation Bureau - and they were mostly sorting through previous paperwork today to maximize the use of time. At his words, Jinno-san and Makki looked up immediately, and glanced in unison at Shoutarou before averting their eyes.

Hidari Shoutarou showed no acknowledgement of hearing Ryuu at all, his eyes void as they stared straight ahead.

Normally, he would have jumped to his feet by now, yelling about how he didn't like to be ordered around (especially by Ryuu).

Taking this in quietly, Ryuu pushed himself out of his chair, and rested his hands on his desk.

"I need someone to double-copy these reports for me, downstairs," said Ryuu quietly, knocking his knuckles on his desk lightly. Catching the 'clear the room now' signal from their Section Chief, Jinno-san and Makki scrambled up from their seats, grabbed the neat stack of papers from Ryuu, and left the room in a haste - racing each other to the door as though the last one left alone with Ryuu and Shoutarou would be murdered.

Still playing with the cup in his hands without actually paying any attention to it, Hidari Shoutarou hadn't seemed to quite notice that he had been left alone in the office with Terui Ryuu. The said superintendent approached Hidari Shoutarou quietly, and picked the cup out of the latter's hand before any coffee was sacrificed by his thoughtlessness.

Shoutarou looked up, and Ryuu thought for sure that he would be glared at - instead, he found Hidari Shoutarou glancing at him with a sort of desperate helplessness, before looking away to study the floor.

"Hidari.."

"What do you want..? Terui Ryuu.."

Ryuu hesitated, sensing the lethargic edge in Hidari Shoutarou's voice. By now he would have shot back with his usual, "Don't ask me question," but he was sure neither Hidari nor himself was in that sort of mood right now.

Instead, he settled for diving straight to the point. "Did something happen?"

Seeing how Hidari Shoutarou choked on his voice as he tried to reply, Ryuu sighed and continued his probing.

"Work?" Ryuu watched attentively as Hidari Shoutarou shook his head, slowly but certainly. Silence fell as he sank into thoughts..

"Is it relationship problems?" Shoutarou flinched, sharply, then nodded, stiffly, for Ryuu's benefit. "So, I see.."

"Say, Terui," Hidari Shoutarou spoke suddenly, still not looking up. "What would you do if someone kissed you?"

"What? Don't ask me-" Ryuu growled, then stopped himself mid-sentence. "I mean.. What do you mean?"

"What would you do if someone suddenly kissed you?" Shoutarou repeated dully, staring pointedly at the same spot on the ground.

Permitting himself a second to consider the question, Ryuu recalled how he was abruptly kissed on the cheeks by Lily Shirogane - an apprentice magician, who had meddled with Gaia Memories and transformed herself into a Dopant for a ridiculous motive of doing magic for her grandfather - a girl Ryuu had ended up saving because no one else had to power to do the same her, even though her actual savior should have been Hidari Shoutarou. Her 'confession' after the incident had been superficial - much too superficial - and it seems she had gotten over him after a very, very short period of time.

"I would question their motives - or question the person herself. Hidari, what is this-"

"What if the person who kissed you was someone you liked? Someone like Akiko?"

"Don't be saying ridiculous things," Ryuu mumbled at the mentioning of Akiko-_shachou_, a sudden embarrassed blush colouring his cheeks lightly. "I would still question their motives, and preferably confront the person.. If they were someone I have feelings for or otherwise, I'm sure they would have meant something with the kiss."

"So there has to be a meaning to it, huh.."

As his accompany spaced out again, Ryuu walked away while considering this conversation they were having. It was a surprise to have Hidari Shoutarou asking him for advice - even if it had been indirect; but it didn't quite make sense. So, someone kissed Hidari Shoutarou? That was certainly quite some news - no wonder Hidari was feeling so shaken. Wait.. Someone kissed Hidari Shoutarou..? !

Could it be.. _Akiko-shachou _? !

"Just wait a moment, Hidari-"

But when he turned around, Terui Ryuu was rudely shocked to find himself alone in the office; Hidari Shoutarou had left without his notice, and the door to the office swung shut silently as though to irritate him further. "Hidari.." Ryuu growled, agitated and mostly worried - not about Hidari Shoutarou of course - and whipped out his phone, dialing straight for Narumi Detective Agency.

"Hello-"

"Shoutarou! Is that you?"

The anxious voice across the line was no one else's but Philip's.

* * *

"What exactly did you do to Shoutarou-kun, Philip-kun?"

Flinching away from the question, Philip hid himself behind his runaway fringe, and squeezed his eyes shut in pain. He hadn't quite expected to have this much trouble trying to remember what exactly had happened a night before, and it proved to be impossible now with Aki-chan and Terui Ryuu around him.

"I.. I don't understand.."

He had since then erased all of his own sketches and writings from all of his white boards inside the secret hangar, but he could not erase the visual snapshots from his own mind after he had read through everything he had written. Images of his own drawings surfaced above his thoughts every now and then, but the fact that they could trigger none of his memories from last night at all frightened him the most..

_How did all of that happened?_

_What exactly did I do to Shoutarou ? !_

"I had a conversation with Hidari just now, before he left for somewhere else. He mentioned something about relationship problems," Ryuu offered, sipping quietly at his coffee where the others were ignoring their own. "Did you have a fight with him? He seemed very unsettled by it."

_Relationship.. Problems..? True, it would really be a problem if this affects their partnership.._

"I.. Don't know.. I can't.. Remember.."

Hands fisting in his hair, Philip lowered his head further, and moaned in frustration. If only he could remember what had gotten him into the research frenzy last night - that might explain things.. Casting a startled look at Terui Ryuu, then at Aki-chan, Philip tousled his already messy bed-hair and asked, "Aki-chan, do you remember what I was reading or talking about last night?"

"Not really.. You were in the basement the whole while.."

"Did we not converse at all yesterday?"

"Not since afternoon.. You only appeared to drag Shoutarou into the basement with you when he returned at night.."

".."

Closing his eyes, ignoring his company for a moment, Philip tried digging deeper into his memories - but it was no use, for no matter how hard he tried to remember, he could recall not a single detail from last night. The weird scene he had woken up to this morning seemed to be his only clue. Pushing himself off his couch, Philip paced towards the door to the secret hangar, let himself in, and slammed the door shut behind him, ignoring the two other people who were now staring at his figure disappearing into the room.

_There has to be some sort of clue left behind.._

As he thundered towards the couch where he had woken up from this morning, Philip caught sight of a magazine-like thin book lying innocently on the floor, just by the counter - it seemed to have been forgotten there where it had dropped. Bending over to pick it up cautiously, Philip took a deep breath and flipped to a random page of the book; he almost dropped it onto the floor again as he stared at the vivid imagery on the coloured pages of the book.

_This is.._

Memories from the night before flooded into Philip's mind, knocking the wind of of him as he stumbled back against the counter. Putting together the strangeness of the scene he had awoken to this morning, everything finally made sense now!

_.. This is it!_

This definitely did not belong to him - this must be the cause of his research frenzy last night! Clutching the thin book tightly in his hand, Philip raced to the door leading out of the secret basement, pausing to catch his breath as he rested his free hand on the doorknob. After he showed this book to Aki-chan and Terui Ryuu, they could get Shoutarou back and explain it all to him, and everything would be cleared up and there wouldn't be a relationship problem anymore! ..

"Philip-kun kissed Shoutarou-kun? It can't be.."

"When I was conversing with Hidari just now, I gathered as much. It seems unbelievable, but somehow you just can't say the same after you see that expression on that guy's face.."

Philip halted behind the door, his ears pressed against the wood, trying to absorb the conversation. He knew it was impolite to eavesdrop, but the circumstances were tempting.. Well, he could just explain it to Aki-chan and Terui Ryuu later should he come across anything interesting from his eavesdropping.

_After all, they're talking about Shoutarou and I.._

"Why would Philip-kun do such.. AH! Oh no.. It must have been the book I've misplaced a day before.."

"A book? Why would a book-"

"It.. It was a _doujinshi_.." Akiko squeaked in a small voice, so faint Philip almost missed it from behind the door.

"Shachou.."

"What if- What if Philip-kun kissed Shoutarou-kun, and Shoutarou-kun had taken it seriously?"

"What do you mean?"

"When Philip-kun is absorbed in something, he researches it in depth and is totally engrossed in it.. But when he snaps out of that topic, it no longer interests him anymore.. What if Shoutarou-kun asked for a confirmation after the.. _Kiss_, and was rejected by Philip-kun because it no longer interests him..?"

".. That would be really bad.."

Stunned, slumped against the door with his hand still on the doorknob, Philip stared ahead with wide, but void eyes. His mind was taking a much longer time than usual to process the conversation between Aki-chan and Terui Ryuu; what were they talking about? What confirmation.. What did they mean when they said he rejected Shoutarou?

"What if.. What if Shoutarou-kun is in love with Philip-kun, but Philip-kun had rejected those feelings..?"

* * *

Squaring his shoulders for the tenth time in the past quarter of an hour, Shoutarou took a deep breath from where he was standing - right before the front door of Narumi Detective Agency - and readied himself to enter the building. He was prepared to be assaulted by Akiko or Terui Ryuu, whoever had the speed to get to him first, for running out on them and ignoring their concerned calls; more importantly, he was finally ready to face whatever reaction - or the lack of reaction - he would receive from Philip. The entire night last night probably meant nothing to his partner. It had just been for the sake of research, and Philip had acquired that information - or rather, experience, from him.

Shoutarou knew he was no longer needed for this matter..

Slapping himself hard in his head, Shoutarou shook himself clear of his torturing thoughts. He had just wasted a couple more minutes hesitating in front of the door. This was not like himself - he should be facing this issue the hard-boiled way. Hard-boiled men do not run away from their problems, especially problems that played with their feelings. He had found the resolve to deal with this issue.. And he would do it, the hard-boiled way, like he had always aimed to. Squaring his shoulders yet again, Shoutarou rested a hand on the doorknob.. And twisted it, pushing the door open gently.

Immediately he found himself stepping into a room cloaked in darkness - the lights were switched off. Ah, so everyone was already asleep.. It seemed like they haven't been too worried about him after all - at least there was no one still awake, waiting for his return. Sighing while removing the hat from his head, Shoutarou loosened the tie around his neck, and closed the door behind him.

If he had known, he wouldn't have hesitated so badly outside the door..

As he sighed again, Shoutarou relaxed his frame and rested his entire weight on the door. A good half of him wanted to head down to the basement to check on Philip, but the other half of him (mainly his logic, or whatever that was left of it) was warning him against it. Perhaps he should call it a night, and face it all tomorrow. After all, the thing they had most in this Fuuto City was time, now that they weren't actually busy about anything in particular..

A sudden alarm went off in his head as he realised abruptly that he wasn't quite alone in the darkness.

There was a soft breathing, shallow and rushed, somewhere to his right - in the directions of the couch where they conversed with clients approaching them with requests. Switching on the lights would be too risky; but he could see barely anything in the darkness. Holding his breath, Shoutarou stared cautiously in the direction of the couch, only to realise in the silence that the other breathing he had picked up was approaching him - slowly but steadily.

_Please, don't let it be an enemy.._ Shoutarou tensed, and prayed frantically. He knew he was in no condition to fight along-side with Philip right now, especially since both their consciousness would be gathered in his own body should they perform their usual transformation into Double..

"Shoutarou..?" a voice laughed out uncertainly, weak and unsteady.

"Philip ? !" he replied quickly, easily recognizing the voice.

Shoutarou rushed forward, reaching out his hands in the darkness, and was not surprised to have Philip collapsing immediately into his embrace. As he struggled not to topple over from Philip's sudden weight, Shoutarou shifted minutely, and found himself resting their combined weight against the front door again.

"Shoutarou.. You're back.. Heh.."

"What are you doing, Philip? And what's this smell on you?"

He was suddenly very, very conscious of how Philip's entire frame was resting on his own right now.

"It's _Tiramisu_, Shoutarou.. _Chi-ra-mi-su_, and I bet you didn't know that it contained liquor too.. Aki-chan bought _chi-ra-mi-su_ cakes without realising it, and we all ate.. Even Terui Ryuuuuuu.." Philip giggled, almost cutely, relaxing completely in Shoutarou's arms. Sighing once again, Shoutarou dropped his head back in an attempt to resist the temptation from Philip, and went back to questioning the younger boy in his arms.

"So this is the kind of trouble you guys get into without me around.. What happened to Akiko and Terui Ryuu?"

"They're upstairs, in Aki-chan's bedroooom," Philip smiled, completely at ease.

"Well, it would have happened sooner or later.. Let's get you to bed, you research-crazy fool."

With a hand around Philip's waist to support him firmly, Shoutarou stepped forward and was immediately held back by a strength that he had not expected from his partner - let alone when the younger boy was drunk. Collapsing back against the door loudly, Shoutarou's eyes widened in surprise as he studied the boy who was pinning him down instead.

"_Iiya da_, I don't want to go to bed," giggled Philip again, without releasing the grip on Shoutarou as he trapped his partner against the door with his entire frame.

"But Philip.."

"I bet you didn't know that there were 1,253,170 related results regarding this food called _chi-ra-mi-su_, Shoutarou.. And I've read about all of them! Only after having that few pieces of _chi-ra-mi-su_ cake, you know," Philip started babbling, staring up at Shoutarou with wide, shining eyes that Shoutarou could see even in the dark. Captured by those huge, clear orbs, Shoutarou gazed at Philip while trying his best to pay attention to his partner's rapid talking. So this was the effect Alcohol had on Philip.. (A/N: I had to stop watching at ep.32, so let me know if I got this wrong!) It was cute, but it seemed rather dangerous.. Enough. Shoutarou made a mental note to be careful about liquor near Philip from now on.

Then, Philip fell back into quiet giggles again, as though remember something really amusing; the sound of his laughter in the silent darkness rang beautifully in Shoutarou's ears.

"Philip.."

"But it had been so easy to read up about _chi-ra-mi-su_.. Did you know, I ran another search earlier today, and I was so surprised! I found close to 300,000,000 related results and that was the limit I could narrow it down to.. Shoutarou, it was 300,000,000 related results and I bet you didn't know, but I've read up on every single result!"

"Philip, I'm starting to lose you there.."

"Shoutarou, I bet you didn't know about this expression called 'Love'.."

"? ! Philip, you.."

"Love is such a mysterious feeling in existence.. It is the most undefined expressions in terms of science, but it is the most explored expression in terms of literature and the arts.."

Philip had started to quieten down; although he was still talking rapidly, he sounded almost sober now. Tensing as the topic progressed without him being able to stop it, Shoutarou struggled fruitlessly against Philip's firm hold on him against the door, and closed his eyes when he gave in to the fact that his efforts were useless.

In his current state, his partner could not be moved..

"But what we did yesterday.. What I did to you yesterday.. It was stated in almost all of those 300,000,000 related results that it was an expression of love from one to another.."

"Philip.. Really, I- We _just_ kissed-"

"There's no need to hide anything, Shoutarou.. I remember everything from last night.. What happened _after_ the kiss.."

"Philip.. Honestly, it's- We just- I mean, you just- Ah, mou, it was just a _blow-_"

"I'm really sorry, Shoutarou.."

Sighing, gathering the younger boy in his arms, Shoutarou reached out a free hand to stroke his partner gently on the head. He hadn't expected an apology, or all the hardwork from his partner's part, but this was touching enough for him already. Even if last night had been entirely a mistake, even if they had to return to normal after their apologies.. Everything would be worth it as long as he still had Philip by his side - as his partner.

"Philip, I'm-"

"I shouldn't have led you on without making my intentions clear, I've learnt that from all those books I've read.. So, Shoutarou, I'll make sure to let you know beforehand the next time something like this happens again, so-"

"Wait wait wait, hold it there, Philip. What 'next time' are you talking about?"

Not realising that his hug on his partner had slackened, Shoutarou found Philip pushing himself away from him slightly, making a small space so that Philip could raise his head, so that they could lock gaze with each other's.

"Of course, there will be more than just a 'next time' between us, right, Shoutarou?" Philip smiled, almost giggling again now, staring straight into Shoutarou's eyes without backing away. The older boy gulped nervously, but could not even look away. It was a tempting offer..

"But Philip.."

"I'm not going to reject you," said Philip, simply. "What happened last night may have been an accident from my obsession.. But it was a good accident, because I now know."

"Know what..?" Shoutarou asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer to that question already.

Philip mirrored his confident smile, and nuzzled his lips against Shoutarou's neck.

"I'm in love with you, Shoutarou.."

Choking until he could finally react, Shoutarou reached over to pull Philip into a hug, and matched his lips with his partner's in the passionate kiss they shared just a night before. As they melted in each other's arms, Shoutarou withdrew slightly from the kiss, only to pin one gentle, but firm peck on Philip's lips before pressing in for more.

"I love you too, Philip.."

* * *

Semi-crappy ending. This is what you get for writing at 3:30 a.m. in the middle of.. nowhere. Without being high on sugar or coffee or warm milk.

Thank you for reading, and review to let me know how you feel about this? :)  
I'm pretty interested to write a 'M' rated continuation from this.

Edit : Oh, the horrible grammar mistakes I made.. Hope they've all been corrected. Ehehe.


End file.
